Shell Executives Charged In OPL 245 Bribery Case

Four senior executives of Royal Dutch Shell were charged by an Italian court for their role in a bribery scheme involving a former Nigerian petroleum minister, Dan Etete, that deprived Nigeria of over $1 billion.

Those charged include former Executive Director for Upstream International, Malcolm Brinded; former Vice President of Shell’s sub-Saharan Africa operations, Peter Robinson; and Guy Colegate and John Copleston, former Shell employees and MI6 agents. The four executives were charged alongside Shell.

The Milan court’s decision came after Shell admitted that it knew that part of its payment of over $1 billion for a Nigerian oil block, OPL 245, would go to former Nigerian oil minister Dan Etete, a convicted money launderer.

Mr. Etete, who served as petroleum minister under former military dictator Sani Abacha, awarded the OPL 245 block to his front company, Malabu. He was later convicted of money laundering in France.

UCJ, UNILORIN.